Knitting machine needle



Oct. 3, 1933.

A. CURRIER KNITTING MACHINE NEEDLE Filed June 15. 1951 V 4, NIQIIIIHN Patented Oct. 3, i933 jun-rm STATES P ENT- OFFICE KNITTING MACHINE NEEDLE Arthur Currier, Penacook, N. Ii, assignor to Acme Knitting Machine & Needle Company,

' Franklin, N. H.,' 7 Hampshire Application June a corporation of New '13, 1931. serial No. 544,064

, 501m (or sis-122) latch pivot, andthe latch and shaft then are assembled withthe shank of the latch located in the ,slot the .needle sha'ft, and the hole in the latch lined up approximately with the holes drilled in the walls ofthe slot. .Usually the outer ends of both holes are countersunk, and it is the common practice "to punch these counter sinks prior to drilling .the'holes. A'pivot pin or wire next driven through the alined holes, and it is cut oil or trimmed, if necessary after which the ends of thepin are headed to secure the pivot firmly in .place. heading operation causes some incidental upsetting of the central part of thepiv- 0t, and because otj-this fact it is the usual practice-to makethe hole in thelat'ch somewhat larger than the holes inthe cheeks or walls of the latch slot. V The wire from whichthe pivots are made may be either plain or screw threaded. .If a threaded wire is used,- then the holes drilled in the needle cheeks must be tapped prior to inserting the pivotii I In using these needles it occasionally happens that the pivot of a needle latch work loose sufficiently to allow the pivot to move endwise. out of place. This occurs with bothtypes of pivot constructions just described When it happens the pivot willsooner or later catch and hold a sernbled with the hole n in the latch properly loop of thread, thus producing a flaw in the work which makes the stocking, or other article being knit, unsalable. Accidents of this kindare par- ..ticularly disastrous whenknitting silk hosiery or other fine goods. While the precentage 'of needleawhich becomedefective in' this manner is relatively small, it is, nevertheless, sufiiclent to be stantially'eliminating, or at least greatly reduc ing, the liability of the latch pivots workingj loose.

.To this end it involves both. a novel 'pivot'co'n- .s'truction and also a; novel process of securing a latch'pivot in a needle shaft. 1

. The nature of the invention will be readily understood mm: the following description when l Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 6 after the-opinserted in the holes and then cutoff, the inner end of the wire being located in the socket 10.

read in connection with the accompanying drawing, and thejnovel features will be particularly pointed'out in the appended claims.

'- In the drawing, j

Figure 1 is aside elevation of a knitting ma-' chine needle of the general type with which the invention is concerned; A

Figs. 2,3, 4 and 5 are side elevations on a large scale of the hook and latchportions of needles constructedin accordance with this invention;

Fig." 61s a sectional view on alarge scale through the parts '01? a needle adjacent to the pivot and illustrating a step inthe method'provided by this invention;

erations on the pivot have beencompleted; and

Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. '7 illustrating a modification. V l According to the method provided by this inventiontheneedle shaft or body 2 and the-latch 3 may be made in any suitable or convenient manner; In a typical, process the hook 4 is made and bent into its final shape,'and the slot 5 for the" latch 3 is formed at any convenient point in the process; The hole 6,F ig. 6, for the latch pivot is drilledand' is counter sunk, as shown at 7. Usually, as above indicated, the counter sink is first punched and a hole is drilled afterwards. According to'the preferred practice the hole for the pivot, instead of being drilled through both walls or cheeksil and '9 of the slot 5 is formed through one'wall only, and the point of the drill is allowed to enter the oppositewall to form a recess 10, Fig. 6.

The latch 3 and needle shaft 2 are next asregistered with the hole 6, and a pivot wire 'or pinl2 then is inserted through'both holes. For this purpose the end of a length of wire may be It will'be observed that the hole 6 is considerably smaller indiameter than the hole )1. in the latch.

.The pivot .12 is next upset to substantially iill the hole h. This operation preferably is periormed by subjecting the pin to the action of two opposed hammers or headers 13 and 14, Fig.

6, the former. acting directly on the exposed end of the piv.ot12 and the latter in line with the f ormer, but engaging the cheek or wall 9. Both hammers or headers are vibrated rapidly, and

ment 1: which substantially fills the hole in the latch 3, and to shape the inner end 0 of the pivot to fit the recesslO. While this involves a very substantial distortion of the pin, this result is readily accomplished when the pin is made of suitable metal, such as those commonly used heretofore'for latch'pi'vots. I

It will be observed that the pivot stud, when finished, conforms substantially to the dimensions of the parts in which it is located. It consists of the head a, the enlargement b-onvvhich the latch 3 swings, the extension or point c and a reduced neck portion d which connects the parts a and b. In thiscons'truction, therefore,

the finished pivot stud 1 2' is headed or riveted to one wall, namely, the wall 8 of the slot 5, but it is secured to this wall only. .It is centered-in the,

other wall due to the presence of the extremity c located in the recess 10, but it is not secured to .the opposite wall.9..

relies been foundadesirable assess-a the formed shoulders on; both .ends. of the enlargernent b. In other words, end faces are provided onthis enlargement which bear against the opposite walls of-the slot.5 the upper of thesefaces, in Fig. 1,. cooperatingwith the head a {to secure thestudrigidly to the wall 8. .,While the inner end of the pin does not, ofcourse, come in contact with the hammer or header 14, nevertheless the action of this header seems to aid materially in promoting a better flow of the metal of the stud adjacent to the wall 9, facilitating the upsetting of the stud against this wall, and producing a better shaped and stronger pivot i i- 1 j V The reasons for the superiority of this construction overthose heretofore, used are somewhat obscure, although they have definitely been that the pivot is secured'in one wall only is an advantage, at least in needles of thesmaller sizes, and these are, of course, the needles in which the greatest amount of. trouble is experienced due to the pivots working looser It seems probable that when one of these needles is operation in a knitting machine it is subjected to forces which .tend to produce a relative vibration or other movement of. the two walls of the slot toward very small, and imperfections in securing the pivots may besuclh that theycannot be detected byinspection and yet, will permit such relative .movement or vibration to start while theneedle is in use. When once started the wear so occasioned will tend to increase the difliculty very rapidly. The circumstances will be more readily understood from-a consideration of thefact that in a forty-eight gage needle, for example, the thickness of the walls 8 and 9 is only about eight thousandths'of an inch. The shank of the latch 3 is of approximately t e same thickness; The wire of the pin 12. is'v only thirteen thousandths of an inch in diameterin a typical needle of this size. The parts, therefore, are very" small and anyimperfections, particularly: in the heading opera- ..tion, are of correspondingly greater importance than they would be in needles of considerably larger sizes. When a forty-eight gage needle is made according to the method above described the pivot hole in the latch 3 is made approximately eighteen thousandths of an inch in diameter,

and the rivet is upset until it approximately fits this hole, suflicient clearance only being provided this anchorage, so that the pivot stud remains permanently secured to the wall 8 until it has been practically worn on. Wear tests made on these needles. have demonstrated that this is the case.

The foregoing construction also overcomes many of the disadvantages of the screw threaded pivot type of needle which is the most common typeof latch needle in' use today. These screw threaded pivots also are headed but this operation must be performed very carefully in order to avoid stripping the threads, and consequently only a very limited heading or expanding of the pivot can be produced. In'such a needle'also the latch must ride on the threads of the pivot so thatthe initial wear on the 'pivot is rapid due .7

to the fact that a verysmall area only of metal is incontact with the latch. These objections are overcome in the present construction. In

addition the'needle construction provided by this invention eliminates the necessity for tapping;- the holes, with the incidental liability'of spring- I10 ing the cheeks or walls of the slot so that-they will not line up properly.

While a typical construction 'of the rivet is shown in Fig. '7, itwill be evident'that essentially,

the same results could be secured notwithstand ing minor variations in the shapes of the parts.

For example, the head a could be given other though I prefer to have theinnerend of the pivot stud centered in this wall.

These and various other changes could be made within the spirit I25 .and, scope of the invention.

After the heading operation has been completed the needle may then go through the usual hardening and finishing operations, no change inthese steps of the-usual manufacturing process"I3C I being required by the present invention. and from each other. The thickness of metal is Having thus described my invention, what I desire'to claim as new is:

1; A knitting machine needle provided with a-- slotya latch having a shank located in said slotf and .a pivot stud extending through one"wall only of said slot and supporting saidlatch for swinging movement, said stud having an enlarged end portion'bearing against the opposite,-,

lwall of said slot and'substantially filling the hole if' with said enlarged portion.

3. A knitting machine needle as defined in preceding claim 2 characterized by the fact that said stud also includes an end portion located in a shallow recess formed in the opposite wall oi! said slot.

4. A knitting machine needle according to preceding claim 2 characterized by the fact that said stud also includes a pointed extension projecting from said enlarged portion and located in a shallow recess formed in the opposite wall of said slot. g

5. A knitting machine needle provided with tending through the latter 'wall and with a head bearing against the outersurface of the last mentioned wall.

ARTHUR CURRIER. 

